Triple Shoveling Workout

As a child of Connecticut I learned that the earlier you shovel snow the easier it is.  As a southern resident my neighbors often accost me about my need to shovel while snow is still coming down.

“Why don’t you just walk with us in the snow?” a friend asked as she passed by while I was pushing the light fluffy flakes from my walkway last evening.  “It’s still coming down, what’s the use?”

I don’t love snow.  I guess I had enough of it as a child to keep me for the rest of my life.  Yes it is beautiful to look at, especially when it just falls, but as it melts and refreezes, or turns a grey dingy color from being mixed with the dirt in the world, or worse yet, yellow from visiting dogs, it does not hold that same magic it does when it is small silent flakes floating to the ground.

Last night I shoveled our front walkways.  There was not much need, I did it for the exercise and so I did not have to put on full winter boots every time I needed to take Shay out to make snow yellow.  Then the freezing rain came so this morning I got up early and chopped up the crispy layer on my shoveled path and threw it to the side of the walkway.

Now it is snowing again.  Carter announced the path was filling in.  Ah, but it wasn’t hard heavy snow, just another layer of light and fluffy.  I went out and with ease I pushed away the newest layer before it has a chance to melt and refreeze and become tough and heavy snow that refreezes into ice overnight.

Shoveling is the kind of workout I like to do.  It is full body, aerobic and free.  I do get a few steps while doing it, nothing like the treadmill, but I have the added bonus of getting core and arm workout.  We had a gravel driveway so there is no way to have fun shoveling that.  It would be a lot more useful if I could clear a path for cars, but I hate to throw the gravel into the lawn and unfortunately that is what I end up doing in the driveway.

Perhaps I like shoveling because it reminds me of the carefree days of my youth, not that I ever shoveled willing as a child.  I am sure that my mother had to scream plenty at me to go outside and shovel.  My father had a snow blower since we had a very long driveway and it was the north after all, but it was started with a rope pull, something I was never very good at.  An old fashioned metal shovel was my tool of choice.  Now I have a better plastic model that is much improved over the cold metal types.

If you are reading this in North Carolina consider going out and shoveling now.  The longer you wait the worse the job gets.  And if you do it long enough you can enjoy an extra cup of coco without guilt.  If you chose to stay inside, no worries, it is going to be 45 degrees tomorrow and it will all be melted by dinnertime.  This is North Carolina after all.